Fox Afield (Madison Wolves) (3 page)

"Lara?"
I said nervously.

Two people broke from the group in the hangar and began walking towards us. Suddenly I smiled, recognizing Greg Freund and Wendy, one of his enforcers. Greg was human, but he had learned about the wolves in his military unit. We had depended upon his services recently, and we had all grown to trust him. I didn't believe he would betray us, and I thought it even less likely Wendy would. She had protected me personally. Greg and Wendy stopped ten steps from us, and we closed the distance.

"Greg," Lara said warmly, holding her hand out. Our enforcers stayed on alert, although Karen and Wendy greeted each other briefly. Until recently, Karen had worked for Greg but had joined the Madison pack. Lara shook hands with Greg and Wendy, then it was my turn, but I wasn't having any of that. I hugged both of them briefly.

Greg clasped my forearms and grinned. "These are a good habit," he said, meaning my knives. "You won't need them, but it is good to be prepared."

"Alpha," he then said to Lara. "I know the numbers are larger than expected. Half of them are mine. I am a neutral party, and I thought that would help to enhance everyone's confidence. Ysabella and the younger children do not normally leave the compound with as small an enforcer contingent as is present today, but we're enhancing security for everyone without feeling overwhelming to you."

"Thank you, Greg," Lara said. "Shall we?"

Greg turned towards the hangar and gestured. The assembled wolves fanned out into a protective screen, and I recognized some of Greg's wolves. We began moving forward. Wendy dropped back to talk quietly to Karen. "They're looking forward to this," she said. "There are hotheads in the local pack, but none of them are here. Be a little careful with the eldest son. He has aspirations but lacks the wit to follow through on them."

"I remember," Karen said. "Is Brooke still in line for Alpha?"

"Yes," Wendy said. "Glenn isn't happy about it, either. But not only is she far smarter than he is, she's also far faster. Not as fast as the fox, but fast. Daniel has spent significant political capital ensuring she'll be accepted after he's gone. Glenn has very little support, and if it came down to it, he wouldn't last a week. He'd have a hundred challengers immediately. But I think he's too stupid to realize it."

I wondered if Lara knew all this. I couldn't ask her right away.

We entered the shade of the hangar. There, Greg's enforcers handled overall security. The Boulder wolves were clustered in two groups, one behind the other. There was a tall, strong male wolf in the center of the first group. He was handsome although older, with a hint of grey in his hair and deeply chiseled features. A female wolf stood beside him, and she reminded me a lot of Elisabeth. Behind them was a large male wolf, and I wondered if perhaps this was Glenn.

The other group, further away, included a female wolf and two teenage wolves I guessed t
o be around twelve. They were well guarded by four enforcers, all of whom were eying us warily.

We came to a stop, and the elderly male stepped forward, the female alongside him. Greg made introductions.

"Lara Burns," Greg said. "Daniel Bancroft. His daughter and head enforcer, Brooke. His son, Glenn. Daniel, with Lara is her mate, Michaela Redfur."

"Now Michaela Burns," I said
.

"Of course," Greg said. Lara and Daniel shook hands, exchanging cautious pleasantries, then Lara shook hands with Brooke and Glenn. It was immediately clear that Glenn was one of those assholes who thinks squashing a hand during a handshake is required to show off how manly you are. I saw the muscles in Lara's shoulders tense as she shook hands with him, and in an instant I had my hands in the sleeves of my blouse, ready to pull out my daggers.

But then it was Glenn who winced and pulled away.

"I love you," I told Lara quietly.

I palmed one of my daggers with my left hand, hiding it behind my arm. I think Greg noticed. He spoke quietly in Daniel's ear, quietly enough all I heard was, "Asshole." Daniel nodded once.

Then Daniel
turned warmly to me. "A fox," he said. He held out his hand, and I extended mine cautiously. He was gentle, offering the pressure a human female might accept. His smile extended into his eyes. "I do hope we can all be friends," he said, and he sounded like he meant it. I detected not the slightest bit of malice.

"Michaela," said Brooke, offering her hand as well. "I echo my father's sentiments. You are the first fox I have met. I do hope we can get to know each other." She pulled me closer into a hug, which surprised me, but she was exceedingly gentle. Still, she almost got a knife in the ribs. "Just nod to him," she said. "If he makes you stab him, it might ruin our diplomacy."

I guessed Brooke had seen the knife as well. She released me, but she did so in a fashion that put herself and her father between Glenn and me.

"Nice to meet you," I said, nodding to Glenn, then offered a look of relief to Brooke. She smiled warmly and nodded once.

When no one was looking, I put my dagger back where it belonged.

Daniel gestured, and the second group approached. "I would present my mate and my two youngest," he said.
Surrounded by enforcers, the second group halved the distance before the smallest child broke away from her mother and ran straight at me. It was then I realized she was closer to Kaylee's age, perhaps nine or ten.

The commotion confused everyone. Karen stepped up behind me, ready to pull me from danger. Lara stepped partially in front of me. Elisabeth drew closer. Two of the Boulder enforcers closed on the child. And we had an incident in the making.

Brooke handled it quite simply. "Stand down!" she ordered firmly, then she swept her little sister up in her arms, spinning her around and hanging on to the squirming child. "Not so fast, Casey," she said.

"I want to see the fox!" the girl said.

"And so you shall," Brooke said. "But perhaps from a small distance."

I could tell the child was about to throw a fit. Her mother was hurrying to close the distance, but it was time for diplomacy. I stepped past Elisabeth and straight up to Brooke.

"Hello, Casey," I said, holding out my hand. "My name is Michaela. We can shake hands, but you must be very gentle. Can you do that?"

Brooke continued to hold her little sister, so I had to look up into her face. The girl reached out and took my hand, and she held it like she would an egg. We shook twice, the girl grinning broadly.

"You're my size!" she said. She frowned. "Are you a pup?"

"No," I said. "I am full grown, although I am considered of moderate size, even for a fox. If you promise to be very gentle and not startle all the enforcers, maybe your sister will put you down and we can see which of us is taller."

Brooke looked at me as if asking whether I was sure, and I nodded to her. She lowered her sister to the ground. "All right," I said. "It's easiest to check if we stand back to back. Are you ready?"

She nodded.

"All right," I said. "We'll each turn around and stand as tall as we can with our backs touching, and the alphas will judge which of us is taller."

We both turned around, I backed up to her, and then said, "Alpha?"

"What do you think, Lara?" Daniel asked. "It looks pretty close."

"I agree, Daniel. I think perhaps the fox is the tiniest bit taller, but that could simply be her wild hair."

"My hair is not wild," I said. "My hair is always perfectly well-behaved."

"P
erhaps the fox is the tiniest bit taller," Daniel agreed. "But the next time we meet, that will no longer be the case."

I stepped away from the girl and turned around, and she turned to face me. "Well, there you have it. We're almost exactly the same height, but you're still growing, and I am not.
Would you like to see something really funny?"

"Yes!" she said.

"Brooke, would you?" I turned around and then Brooke chuckled before standing against my back.

"Brooke is a lot taller than you are, Michaela!" Casey said.

I laughed and said, "Yes, and in a few years, you will be too, won't you?"

She nodded sagely.

By then her mother had stepped up, still holding onto their other child, and she was smiling at me. When I glanced at Daniel, he was, too.

"All right, Casey," the woman said. "I believe that is enough breaking of protocol. You knew you were to wait for me."

"I'm sorry, Mom," she said. "But I wanted to see the fox."

"And now you have seen her. Do you think perhaps the rest of us could receive our proper introductions?" She stepped forward, holding her other child, a boy of twelve years, by the shoulders.

Daniel spoke. "Lara, Madison Alpha, this is my wife, Ysabella, and my second son, Cory. Ysabella, Lara and Michaela Burns."

Ysabella
held out her hand to Lara, then to me, and she smiled warmly, her smile larger for me.

I looked a
t the boy. He was a little shy, staring at me uncertainly. He was just at the age when boys start to notice girls, and he did not have the unabashed freedom of his little sister.

"Would you care to shake hands, Cory?" I asked. "You need to be very gentle, even more gentle than you would with a young wolf pup."

He nodded uncertainly, and I held out my hand. He took it awkwardly, but he was gentle. He was missing the roughness I'd grown accustomed to with other wolves. He snatched his hand back and faded behind his mother, never taking his eyes from me.

Ysabella
offered a welcome to Boulder and hopes for friendship between our two packs. I wouldn't have wanted to depend on Glenn's friendliness, but the rest of the Bancroft family seemed to be offering a genuinely friendly greeting. I tried to determine the dynamics between everyone. Why was Brooke introduced first rather than Ysabella? More importantly, why was Glenn?

We exchanged a few additional pleasantries. I had retreated to Lara's side but was watching everything.
Ysabella had reasserted management of her younger children. Cory was fine to remain in the background, but Casey appeared to be a delightful handful of energy.

Finally Daniel spoke. "I am sure you are anxious to be on your way, but perhaps we could lure you to an early lunch first. I am afraid Glenn cannot make it, as he has urgent business to attend to for me."

"An informal lunch would be lovely," Lara said.

"Excellent," Daniel said. "Greg, will you attend with us?"

"I would love to," he said.

"I do have one small request," Lara said. "My wife knows nothing of our upcoming plans, and I would rather they remain a surprise to be discovered one at a time rather than all at once."

Ysabella laughed. "Daniel attempts to keep things from me in such a similar way, but it rarely works out, does it Daniel?"

"No," he said. "
And I rather suspect it is not so easy for you, either, Lara?"

"No," she said, glancing down at me. "Michaela is much more clever than I am, and so I must recruit the support of the entire pack to stay even a half step ahead of her, and even then I must ask her to cooperate with keeping secrets from her."

"Well," Daniel said. "We shall not interfere in your surprises for each other. Brooke, if you could attend to the enforcer assignments, I shall talk briefly with Glenn." He pulled his son away, and I listened as he directed Glenn to some task I was sure was busy work designed to get him away from us. Greg watched me critically but didn't comment.

In the meantime, Brooke gestured to two of her enforcers, and I heard her tell them, "You two stay with Glenn. If you lose him, you call me. I want to know where he is at all times, and under no circumstances do you allow him within a hundred miles of our guests."

"Yes, enforcer," they both said.

"The Alpha does not want an incident," Brooke added.
"He almost caused an incident with their alpha, and we can't let him near the little fox. I think she is far more dangerous than she looks."

I stifled a grin.

"If he tries his macho bullshit on the fox, I don't know which of the alphas would kill him faster: the wolf or the fox."

"We understand," the enforcers said again, and she released them.

Daniel turned and led us to a sea of SUVs. Greg's people had arrived in theirs. Daniels' people had arrived in theirs. And there were two for us to use while we were in Colorado. Daniel mentioned the restaurant. Greg knew where it was and describe the location to Karen. But then Casey said, "Can the fox ride with us?"

"If she wants to," said
Ysabella immediately.

Daniel and Lara both stiffened.
Ysabella noticed her husband's reaction and suddenly realized she had put everyone on the spot.

"Lara," I said very quietly into her ear. "Trust starts somewhere. We trust Greg, Greg trusts Daniel. And I liked what Brooke told her enforcers. I am willing to ride with them, but this is your call."

"Perhaps, Daniel," Lara told him, "Brooke would care to drive our car for us, and Karen can drive the second SUV."

Daniel glanced at Brooke, who nodded.